South Africa celebrates Youth Day

16/6/2021

By Gulia Gasperoni

"SOMETIMES it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that generation"
- Nelson Mandela

Today South Africa celebrates Youth Day, honouring the young students who were killed in the Soweto uprisings of 16 June 1976. It is also part of the wider Youth Month and the theme this year is "The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed society.”

The tragic events of 1976 are one of the many examples in which enraged youth fought tooth and nail against a system of oppression. They did prevail, albeit in the long-term and with no little sacrifice.

So let's be honest and ask ourselves: what kind of future are we leaving to our youth? Are we doing the best we can to leave a valuable and well-preserved inheritance?

The present does not seem too rosy either. Even the government stated, on their website, that "the recent unemployment statistics pertaining to young people is cause for concern". They quote the 2020 fourth quarter Labour Force Survey, which found that "about 8,6 million young people aged between 15 and 34 years are not in education and not in employment".

The odds might be against them, but we do believe that the energy of young people is very powerful and can truly change the world!

#YouthMonth2021 #LimitlessYouth